This blog provides delicious,traditional, vegetarian, South Indian Recipes from my mother Chitra Amma's kitchen. There are few 'world recipes' as well!
Thanks to Shravan, Pranav, Akash, Tara, Guggs, Shankari, Adu, Dhrithi, and Appa Ramachandran for the photos!

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Friday, April 29, 2016

As the scorching sun is beating down mercilessly upon the earthlings, our compassionate Mother Earth is all set to help her children beat the heat with her nature basket brimming with abundant body cooling produce. Come summer and we see vendors with cartloads of numerous fruits, tender coconuts and ice apples everywhere. Tender coconut is a natural Oral Rehydration Solution which helps in replenishing and regulating the body fluids and salts which are lost due to profuse sweating. Panagam /Panaka is a traditional juice prepared using certain fruits and jaggery. The most common one being the lime and jaggery drink, Panagams/Panakas act as ORS and is prepared and distributed as Prasadam during all the festivals celebrated during summer.

Pachadi and Panagam/Panaka prepared using a fruit called Vilambazham/Belada Hannu/ Wood Apple are ideal body coolants for the summer heat. This fruit has various health benefits apart from being an energy booster and a delicious body coolant. Elders recommend the fruit for rakta shuddi meaning detoxifying the blood. Vilambazham/ Belada hannu/ Wood apple has a woody outer shell and the pulpy fruit rattles inside the shell when ripe.The unique flavour the fruit emanates confirms its ripeness.

Hold the ripe fruit firmly in one hand and gently knock the shell using a pestle or the back of a knife to break open the shell in half.

A perfectly ripe fruit will roll out like a ball from the broken shell. Vilambazha Pachadi / Belada Hannina Pachadi is a favourite finger licking relish prepared during traditional feasts.

The botanical name of Vilambazham/Belada hannu is Limonia acidissima.

The botanical name of Vilva pazham / Bilpatre hannu of the sacred bilva tree is Aegale marmelos/ Bael. The name Wood Apple is commonly used for both the fruits. Many a time the fruits are mistaken for each other. However the Vilvam/ Bilva/ Bael fruits are also edible. Now coming to Vilambazham /Belada Hannu recipes.

VILAMBAZHA PACHADI/BELADA HANNINA PACHADI

INGREDIENTS

Wood apple pulp - 1 cup

Powdered jaggery - 1 cup

Salt - 1 pinch

Sesame oil - 1/4 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 pinch

Broken red chillies - 1

METHOD

1. Mash the fruit using your hand with powdered jaggery and salt till the jaggery melts and blends well with the fruit. Using Mudde bella (soft round jaggery) is preferable as it is devoid of impurities.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

After the Ugadi feast I was still left with a few raw mangoes in my refrigerator. Since they were nice and firm I decided to use them to make Tundu Manga Ooruga. As I started washing the mangoes the thought of the spicy Manga Tokku I had relished in my younger days flashed in my mind. My mother prepared the most delicious Manga Tokku and stored it in a huge Jadi

( Jar )which was stacked away in the store room with other Ooruga jadis (Pickle Jars). She brought out only one cup of Tokku at a time to be used during our meals expecting it to last for the week.As a teenager I was so addicted to eating Tokku Sadam (Tokku mashed with steaming hot rice) at the beginning of every meal that the cup of Tokku did not last even for three days! I wonder how I could devour that amount of spicy Manga Tokku without any side effects in those days!

INGREDIENTS

Fresh and firm Raw Mangoes - 2 ( It gave 2 full cups of Mango gratings)

Sesame oil - 4 tbsps

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida - one big pinch

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Chilly Powder - 2 tbsp

Salt - 2 tbsp

METHOD

1. Wash, peel and grate the raw mangoes and keep aside.

2. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds until it turns dark in colour emanating a very pleasant aroma.

3. Powder the roasted fenugreek seeds using a mortar and pestle.

4. Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds.

5. When the mustard seeds splutter add asafoetida followed by the grated mangoes.

6. Add turmeric powder and salt.

7. Cook on medium flame stirring now and then till the oil separates.

8. Add the chilly powder which will absorb all the oil.

9. Keep stirring so that the Tokku does not get burnt till the oil once again separates.

10. Mix in the roasted and powdered fenugreek seeds.

Cool the Tokku and store in a clean and dry glass jar.

Enjoy the heavenly Manga Tokku with curd rice, adais and dosas. You can even use it as a bread spread.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

It is once again cooking time with my grand daughter D2. Since Ugadi coincides with her summer holidays we are having a great time experimenting with new dishes and D2 is happily clicking pictures of the end product. We decided to prepare an easy to make dessert for the Ugadi eve using Sago, Mango and Coconut milk. It turned out to be a flavoursome, pleasant looking luscious delight!

Monday, April 4, 2016

KUZHAMBU VADAMA short recipe and a cascade of nostalgia! The intense heat of the sun kindled a burning desire in me to make the long forgotten KuzhambuVadams. I remember my childhood days when our home turned into a Vadam Vattal (Sun dried crispies and vegetables) factory at the onset of summer. The kitchen was filled with the pungent smell of freshly ground green chilly paste which would go into the koozh - the gruel or batter to make vadams. The koozh was cooked in huge brass vessels the previous day. The next dawn saw my grand mother and her assistants clamouring around collecting old dothis, an umbrella, a cane and other paraphernalia to make huge quantities of Vadams to last for an year! A wooden cot was also shifted to the courtyard! I can hear some one shouting out 'I thought this was about Vadams!'. Yes I am coming to that! You will soon know what an important role the cot had to play in Vadam making! The old white dothi was spread out on the cot. The huge vessel containing the cooled 'koozh' was brought out by the helpers. Grandmother sat on a short stool beside the cot with an attendant holding the umbrella over her head. She efficiently poured out the 'koozh' using a small ladle in small circles at regular intervals on the dothi which was spread out on the cot. Now and again grand mother lifted herself up in a half standing (or should I say half sitting?) position. The attendant shifted the small stool to a more convenient position, and gently guided grandmother once again on to her seat so that she could continue with her Vadam making. The Vadam batter would get over precisely at the same time when grandmother meticulously completed one circumambulation around the cot. We - the children - took turns as in a relay game to shoo away the crows and squirrels with a proud wave of the cane, like a performing magician! Once my grand father executed his innovative idea and fixed four posts on to the four corners of the cot and hung a mosquito net over it to protect the Jevvarisi Vadams (Sago Crispies) from the avian onslaught! But grandmother was never sure of the rodents, and hence we were allowed to play "Magician" and hover around the cot waving our magic wands through out the day. The ants were kept away by placing four water filled cups under the four legs of the cot. It was also our duty to fill up the cups as and when the water evaporated due to the extreme heat of the sun.The other type of Vadam was the Nool Vadam or Peni Vadam which more or less looked like curled up noodles.This was prepared using cooked rice flour and pressed through a brass Hand Press called Nazhi. The Jevvarisi Vadams ( Sago crispies), Peni Vadams (Rice crispies), PoriVadams (Puffed Rice crispies) and Kuzhambu Vadams ( Lentil crispies) enjoyed the blazing hot Sun bath under the mosquito net canopy for three or four days till they became bone dry. The sun dried Vadams were pealed out of the dothi and stored in huge boxes which in turn were stacked off in the store room.Kuzhambu Vadam is prepared by grinding lentils with spice. The dried vadams taste delicious when fried and dunked in Puli Kuzhambu or Koottu. Kuzhambu Vadam plays a vital role in 'Naal kolam' which is a celebration held at the girl's home prior to her marriage.The girl is decked up in all her finery on an auspicious day and made to sit on a wooden plank. The women of the family adorn her with colourful glass bangles, flowers, sandal paste and vermilion. The girl places small scoops of the Kuzhambu Vadam batter on a large tray placed in front of her, indicating the beginning of the wedding preparations. In olden days all the Papads, Vadams and Pickles for a wedding were prepared at home in advance. It is believed that when the bride to be inaugurates the preparations with all her heart, her prayers and good will would ensure a smooth and happy wedding. My Naal Kolam was the beginning and end of my Vadam making stint! I usually got my stock of Vadams from my mother's place prepared by our dear Chef - in - need Meenakshi Mami for a long time. Now that we have cut short on eating fried stuff, I buy Vadams at the near by departmental stores for parties or feasts.With the sweltering heat this year, my mind was steeped in my Vadam nostalgia ! Hence I prepared Kuzhambu Vadams especially for this post!INGREDIENTS TO MAKE KUZHAMBU VADAMS

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Hello

Welcome to Chitra Amma's Kitchen.

I am Dibs. I am a born Foodie. I love to cook; love to eat; love to feed folks who appreciate good food. Blogging provides me a great way of documenting my mother, Chitra’s recipes, as a ready reference irrespective which time zone I live in. Amma honestly makes the best food I've ever had, and somehow, the anecdotes she tells us, make the dishes taste all the better.Most posts here are written by my mother Chitra. It’s her recipes, along with related reminiscences of people, places and anecdotes. She writes, I post!What started for a lark, has now become a serious hobby, drawing in participation from the whole family. My father, S.R. Ramachandran has started clicking away every dish made at home! Aunts, cousins, siblings, contribute to photos, and ask for recipes.We try to illustrate implements such as utensils, grinding stones and so on from the ‘pre-electric-mixer’ days wherever possible. We hope this will make an interesting read for future generations, on how food was cooked in earlier times!The site is still in its infancy, and slowly evolving, as our skills improve! We invite your comments, ideas, and questions, and will attempt answering them.

Thank you for your visit, and we hope you enjoy your stay at Chitra Amma’s Kitchen.